1997 Fly Fishing.

Brown Trout.

Once we took an overseas visitor trout fishing in a stream near Rotorua. We tried a couple of places and didn't have much luck. My friend decided to teach our visitor how to fly fish and was showing him how to caste and draw the fly back across the water's surface. His second cast he got one. Can you believe it? All the luck! Well, in the excitement, he slipped on some rocks and almost ended up in the water with the trout much to the amusement of us sitting watching. But eventually, the two of them managed to save our visitor, the rod and his trout. So that evening we had a large Brown Trout, wrapped in tin foil and cooked on the barbeque. Lovely!

1994 Adventure Tourism

        The magnificent New Zealand scenery is a major drawcard for tourists from every corner of the world, quickly and comfortably accessible and completely unspoiled. But that is not all. Excitement, thrills and fun are also provided to go with our stunning scenery. Be it a hike through our abundant bush, a hair-raising ride through treacherous whitewater aboard a raft, fishing our lakes and rivers for trout or plunging headlong into gullies attached to a bungy rope - there is an outdoor adventure for all tastes and ages. In this Tourism issue, the uniqueness of a holiday in New Zealand was captured. The fresh, clean design of the stamps reflect the land with its abundance of crystal clear lakes and streams, magnificent mountains and dramatic landforms.

What better way to start this post than an excellent used example of the 45c White Water Rafting - from the Booklet. 

1987 Tourism

       Tourism is a high profile, growth industry.  Facilities are bursting at the seams with foreign tourists, and investors and developers have responded by pouring millions of dollars into new hotels and other facilities at holiday resorts.  There is an ever increasing number of tourists seeking outdoor adventure in New Zealand so in 1987 the Post Office played its part in promoting New Zealand overseas by issuing a set of six tourism stamps.  The theme of the stamps underlines a significant development in New Zealand tourism.
       This issue was designed to promote tourism overseas so it didn't include the value for the current standard letter rate within New Zealand at that time. All the stamps have denominations for overseas postage to various parts of the world. In this way, New Zealand tourism, with activities for visitors to New Zealand on each stamp, would be promoted overseas.

        Personally, I feel the appearance would have been improved if sharp photographs of the various activities had been used. Images such as these were all I could find either mint or used.

2011 New Zealand Experience

          In 2011 New Zealand Post issued this six stamp set to promote tourism in this country. New Zealand has a wide range of landscapes which led to an equally wide range of activities for overseas visitors. The focus of this issue is to get out there, to see and do, to experience New Zealand.

NZ Post says in their web site:-
          "New Zealand may be a small country but it has a whole lot to offer – from breathtaking scenery to adrenalin-pumping activities and a cultural experience like no other. And when you can drive from the ski slopes to the beach within 30 minutes, it’s easy to see why so many people flock to our diverse and picturesque shores. Take a closer look at the vast array of experiences to be had in New Zealand with the six gummed stamps in this issue." 

          Personally, I really like this issue because rather than just being postage stamps, it set out to promote New Zealand using six attractive stamp designs that show six highlights of a journey through this country.  We should be proud of our country and ready to get out here and showcase it to the world. Tell them what they are missing and they will come.